McHenry County unemployment falls to 6.2 percent

Job seekers file into the McHenry County College 2013 fall job fair Friday. Fifty-nine area employers were there seeking temporary, part-time and full-time employees.

By NORTHWEST HERALD

CRYSTAL LAKE – McHenry County’s unemployment rate was 6.2 percent in May, the lowest it’s been since the Great Recession, according to preliminary figures from the U.S. Department of Labor and the Illinois Department of Employment Security.

McHenry County’s jobless rate last month was 2 percentage points lower than the 8.2 percent recorded in May 2013. In May 2008, the county’s unemployment rate was 5.5 percent, according to state records.

The unemployment rate in Crystal Lake was 6.2 percent, down from 8.7 percent in May 2013, IDES spokesman Greg Rivara said.

Other jobless numbers showed Algonquin at 6.2 percent, down from 8.1 percent; McHenry at 6.7 percent, down from 8 percent; and Lake in the Hills at 6.2 percent, down from 7.9 percent.

Carpentersville’s unemployment rate fell to 7.6 percent in May, compared with 9.6 percent in May 2013.

In Kane County, the jobless rate stood at 6.6 percent, down from 8.6 percent in May 2013.

Unemployment rates fell in every metro area in the state in May. Rates also fell in 99 of the state’s 102 counties.

The Chicago-area rate in May was 7.2 percent, compared with 9.2 percent in May 2013. Rockford’s rate fell from 10.3 percent in May 2013 to 8.9 percent last month. The Danville metro area had the highest unemployment rate in the state with 9.4 percent; Springfield and Bloomington-Normal had the lowest at 6 percent.

“Growing consumer confidence and its related discretionary spending is pushing this economy forward,” IDES Director Jay Rowell said in a news release.

Not seasonally adjusted data compares the current month with the same month of the previous year. The May 2014 not seasonally adjusted Illinois unemployment rate was 7.2 percent and 12.2 percent at its peak in this economic cycle in January 2010. Nationally, the unemployment rate was 6.1 percent in May and 10.6 percent in January 2010 at its peak.

The unemployment rate identifies those who are out of work and looking for work and is not tied to collecting unemployment insurance benefits. Historically, the state unemployment rate is higher than the national rate, according to the news release.